Burial casing or vault.



E. 0. WHITMBR. BURIAL CASING OR VAULT.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 16, 1912.

Patented Apr. 29, 1913.,

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' Specification of Letters Patent. Patiarnterdl litiiul. 29, Midge Application and March 16, 1am. Serial in. estate.

To al lwhomz't may concern: r i

Be it known that T, EARL CLAYTON VVHITMER, a citizen of the United States,

residing atWilton Junction, in the county of Muscat-inc and State of Iowa, have in: vented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial Gasingsor Vaults, of which the followin is a specification, reference being had to t e accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in burial vaults and has for its primary object to provide an im roved housing or casing for the vault bo y, and means carried by said body and supported upon the Walls of;

spaced relation to the casing walls.

Another object of the invention is to pro- 'vide a device of this character which will possess advantages in points of efiiciency and durability, is inexpens ve of manufacture and at the same t1me is simple 1n construcl tion and operation.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims, and shown in the accompanying'drawings, in which v Figure 1 isa longitudinal sectional view,

Y the vault being shown partly in elevation;

and Fig; 2 is a transverse sectional view.

the vault casing to hold the vault body Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the body of a vault which is to be formed of sheet metal or other suitable material and having a horizontal flange 2 formed upon its upper edges.- An arcuate cover 3 is provided having a horizontal flange 4 formed on its edges and adapted to rest upon the flange 2 of the vault. Formed on the outer edge of the horizontal flange 2 is a vertical upstanding flange 5 which forms, when the cover is in place, a trough 6 wherein cementi or other suitable sealing material is placed to render the vault air tight and absolutely water proof. Handles 7 are secured to each side of the vault to permit easy handling of the same.

An inverted U-shaped casing 8 is provided which is to be formed of the same material as the body of the vault and is adapted to be arranged over and inclose the vault are adapted to engage in the channels 10 when the casing is arranged over the body to-prevent the removal of the casing. These the -downwardly projecting resilient catch members 11, the lower ends of which spring members 11 are to be secured to the side of thebodyof the vault, by means of solder or othersuitahle material sothat no openings will have to. be. made in the side of the body for the reception of bolts, rivets or other. securing means which wouldLpermit air or water to enter thelbody. In the use of my improved vault, th 'cofiin is to beplaced in the body; member .o'fflthe vault and securely sealed therein byf placing the cover 3 upon the vault and then fining the t g 6 With cement as showiih at 12, or other suitable sealing'material to render the vault air tight and absolutely 45,

water proof. The casing 8 is then arranged over the vault body and moved downwar ly thereon until the ends of the catch members or spring plates 11 spring into the channels 10 upon the longitudinal edges of the side walls of the casing. With the vault thus suspended within the casing in spaced relation to the walls thereof, the

whole is then lowered into the grave.

It will of course, be understood that the edges of the casing 8 rest uponsuitable supporting means arranged in the bottom of the grave to prevent the casing from sinking, into the ground. The heavyspring plates 11 yieldably support the body 1 within said outer casing in spaced relation to the walls thereof and to the ground surface, thus pro viding-an air space, which entirely surrounds said body. By this means, it will be appreciated that rapid deterioration of the vault body 1 is overcome. Thus it will be seen that the spring catch members 11 have a double function, in that they not only look the outer casing to the body of the vault but also yieldably support the sustaining the entire weight of the vault body and preventing the same from sinking into the ground.

From the above description taken in connection with the drawings, the use, advantages, and construction of my improved casing and vault will be readily understood.

While l have shown and described the preferred form of my invention it will be obvious that various changes in the details of construction and in the proportions may be resorted to for successfully carryin my invention into practice without sacri cing any of the novel features or departing from the scope thereof. 1

What I claim is 1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a vault body, of a casing therefor of inverted U shaped form adapted to be arranged over said body and disposed in spaced relation to the walls thereof, the longitudinal edges of said casing being inwardly bent and upwardly extended in parallel relation to the casing walls, said inwardly bent edges of the casing walls forming channels which extendthe entire length of the casing, and heavy spring plates, each of saidplates bein reversely -bent and having one of its ends xed to the vault body, the other ends of said spring plates being'disposed within said lon tudi- I nal channels of the casing and held y the 1 upwardly. extending edges thereof against lateral movementwith relation to the easing walls. a

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a vault body, of a casing therefor open upon one side to receive said vault body, su porting members carried by the vault bo y and extending below the base thereof, and means on the opposed walls of said casing to receive said supporting members whereby the vault body is supported in spaced relation to the casing walls, and yieldably held against lateral movement with relation thereto.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EARL CLAYTON WHITMER.

Witnesses:

NELLm M. WHITMER, A. E. WHrrMnR. 

